Resolute Spirit (Rebooted)
by Inkweaver22
Summary: A darkness is coming. A darkness that is more sinister than anything Pitch Black can come up with. And as the prepare for the future, the Guardians are tasked to raise a new Legend in his duties.
1. Prolouge

**I'm BAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAACK! Did'ja miss me? **

***side-steps volley of sharp objects* **

**Yeah, yeah, I know. I apologize for taking forever. For those of you who just now joining us, this is actually a reboot of a story of mine by the same name. You can find it on my profile if you're interested. **

**For those that **_**have**_** been following this story, you'll be pleased to find that there several changes and improvements done to each chapter. Some scenes have even been entirely re-written! **

**Also, I would like to point out that I started writing this before I knew of the books or that Mother Nature was Pitch's daughter. So the Mother Nature here (who belongs to MagentaCarther) has no relation to Pitch. Consider this story to be AU.**

**Anywho, there'll be more on that in the ending Author's Notes! On with the disclaimer!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Rise of the Guardians or the books it's based off.**

* * *

It was New Year's Eve in the town of Galion. It was a small, close-knit community where everyone was friendly with one another. With the nearest town, Burgess, being almost an hour away and being entirely surrounded by forest, it was a secluded place as well.

Quinn Wu and his Chinese-American family were currently enjoying the holiday in their modest two-story home, located just on the edge of the forest. Quinn looked like most seventeen year old Chinese boys: average height, short black hair, pale skin. The one thing that set him apart from others were his eyes. While most of his family had brown or amber colored eyes, Quinn's were a dazzling bright blue; a very uncommon color for one of Chinese decent.

His azure eyes were currently sparkling with child-like excitement and anticipation as he waited for midnight. Of all the holidays his family celebrated, he always loved New Year's the most. Not even the wonder of Christmas or the festival atmosphere of the 4th of July could compare to the unbridled joy he felt at the end and beginning of each year. He never could explain why, but he always felt lighter than air during the holiday.

He glanced at the clock and grinned at the time displayed. It was time for his favorite part of his favorite holiday.

"It's 9:30!" He stated excitedly, gaining the attention of his family. "It's time for New Year's resolutions!"

"How about you go first this year David." Said Quinn's father, Kai, to the brown haired man sitting next his older sister.

"Yeah!" Mai agreed as she squeezed her fiancé's hand encouragingly.

"Alright. My New Year's resolution is to get to know each one of you a little better before the wedding."

"I guess the same goes for me and your family." Mai said. The loving couple shared a kiss to some polite applause.

"Who's next?" Kai asked.

"I'll go." Said Zane, Quinn's older brother and spitting image of their father. "My resolution is to quit smoking." There were gasps of surprise and the applause was much more enthusiastic.

"I suppose I'm next." Quinn's mother, Jane, volunteered. "This year, I plan to keep a better track of the time." They all chuckled as they remembered all the times they were late to one event or another due to her slight absent-mindedness.

"Me next! Me next!" Exclaimed Quinn's five year old sister, Lorelei, who, despite how late it was, was still very energetic. "I'm gonna get over being scared of tall places!" Their grandmother, Leann, leaned down and picked up the young girl in an affectionate hug.

"That's a wonderful goal Rosebud." The elderly woman praised.

"What's your resolution Nana Willow?" Lorelei questioned.

"I plan on working on our family's genealogy." She stated simply.

"What's that?"

"It means she's going to look up things about our family's past." Kai explained. Leann glanced at her only son and smiled.

"So what is your goal?" She asked.

"My resolution is to spend more time with my family. With my promotion, I have more vacation time." The family gasped at this announcement. It was the first they've heard of this advancement and they cheered enthusiastically.

"Alright, alright." Kai said to quiet everyone down. "We still have one last resolution to hear." They all turned to Quinn who grinned.

"My resolution," he paused for dramatic effect. "Is to help you all with your resolutions!"

"Again?" Zane sighed in exasperation. "You've been making that goal for the past four years!"

"So?" Quinn defended. "I _like_ helping you all!

"Of course you do." Leann soothed. "And that's what makes you so likable. How about for this year, you add another resolution. One for yourself." Quinn thought for a moment.

"How about… I try to stop biting my nails?" He offered.

"Perfect!" His grandmother exclaimed. "Now that _that_ is settled, who wants to face me at Mahjong?"

As the adults set up the game, Quinn noticed Zane leave the room and head outside. The teen pursued him.

"Where are you going?" He confronted his older brother.

"I'm going to have a quick smoke." Zane replied, pulling out a pack of cigarettes.

"What about your New Year's resolution?"

"The new year isn't here yet." The twenty-four year old rationalized as he pulled out his lighter as well.

"It's never too early to start working on it." Quinn argued. Zane sighed in exasperation and glared at his younger brother.

"You're not going to let me smoke in peace, are you?"

"Nope." Quinn said with a smirk.

"Fine, you win for now. But you know it's impossible for someone to quit cold-turkey." The brothers retuned to the living room, where the tile-based game was in full swing. Zane began to watch as Quinn made his way to the kitchen to get himself a plate of chips as well as a soda. He was surprised to find Lorelei sitting at the table by herself with a troubled look on her face.

"Hey Rosebud." He said cheerfully as he sat next to her. "What's up?"

"Quinn, is Santa real?" The five year old asked up front. Quinn raised his eyebrows in surprise.

"Why do you ask?"

"Because Cousin Matt told me he wasn't." Lorelei answered with watery eyes. The teenager scowled.

Their cousin had been at their house about a week ago for Christmas. Quinn loved his entire family and would do anything for them, but Cousin Matt irked him to no end. He was a total jerk, always saying mean or discouraging things to his younger relatives whenever he had the chance. Quinn made mental note of bringing this up to his Aunt and Uncle as soon as possible.

"Matt doesn't know what he's talking about."

"So Santa's real?"

"Of course he is!" Quinn confirmed with a smile.

"And the Easter Bunny is real too?" Hope shined in the young girl's amber eyes. "And the Tooth Fairy and the Sandman?"

"Yep! And so is Mother Nature and Father Time and even Jack Frost!" Quinn added on a whim. Lorelei frowned in confusion.

"Who's Jack Frost?"

"Who's Jack Frost?!" Quinn exclaimed in mock surprise. "He's the reason we have winter!" He glanced out the window. "In fact, he's making it snow right now." His younger sister gasped and turned to see that it was indeed snowing. Squealing in delight, the five year old ran into the living room.

"It's snowing!" She shouted as she jumped up and down in excitement. "Jack Frost is making it snow!"

Quinn chuckled at her enthusiasm and turned to watch the snow fall. His eyes widened in surprise at what he saw. A boy, no older than himself, with pure white hair and bright blue eyes was peering through the window at his sister. A smile was plastered onto his face as he watched her dance around the room. The boy looked up and froze when he met Quinn's gaze, his own eyes widening.

"What're you looking at Quinn?" Quinn glanced over to Lorelei for a second and then back to the window. The boy had vanished! The window was instead covered in an intricate pattern of frost…

"Quinn?" His younger sister seemed concerned at his prolonged silence. "What's wrong?"

A slow smile spread across his face. "Nothing's wrong." Quinn said with absolute certainty in his voice. "Jack Frost was just waving through the window." His smile grew wider when she went into an even bigger fit of excitement. He gazed out of the frost-covered window at the falling snow with an absolute knowledge of who he'd just seen.

* * *

Jack Frost landed at the front door of North's workshop where the annual Legend New Year's party was being held. He was still smiling like a kid in a candy store at what had happened. A teenager believed in him! A teenager! It was great the more kids were starting to believe in him, but he would've never thought a teenager would. The snow spirit had heard stories from the other Guardians of the few rare children who grew up into their teens and still believed in them. He couldn't wait to tell them.

Jack knocked in the door and waited for it to open. After he had caused a huge snow storm across most of North America so the children could have something fun to do for the first day of the year, Jack had gone to Jamie's house to change for the party. Instead of his hoodie, Jack now wore a military style tunic that was light blue with a silver border around the edges and a simple black belt with a matching silver buckle. Underneath it he had a skin-tight, black synthetic shirt that rode high on his neck. His old brown cloak that shimmered in the light completed the ensemble, clasped at the base of his neck by a silver snowflake.

North had made the formal attire for the young Guardian and had insisted that he wore it to all special occasions. While Jack, being the protector of Fun, hated dressing up for anything, he had to admit that the clothes made him look good.

A large yeti opened the door and spoke in excited gibberish to the winter spirit.

"Hey there Phil." Jack greeted with a smile. "I'm not late am I?" The yeti just spouted off more happy nonsense and ushered him inside. Spirits of all shapes and sizes mingled throughout the workshop. Jack recognized the majority of them, but there were still a few he couldn't name. He scanned the crowd, searching for five faces in particular.

"Jack!" He turned to where the shout had come from to see a hyperactive blur of green and blue feathers waving to him.

"Tooth!" He called back, making his way over to the fairy.

"Where have you been?" She asked once they were close enough to hear each other without shouting.

"Oh you know, just flying about doing the usual." Jack replied. "The kids need _something_ to do on New Year's Day. But something exciting happened that I wanted to tell you. Where are the others?"

"I think North and Sandy are talking with Father Time." Toothiana said while looking around. "Oh look! There's Bunny and Rose!"

Jack turned to see the Easter Bunny and Mother Nature sitting on a bench together and talking. The spirit of the Earth was beautiful girl that looked no older than Jack. She was about his height and normally wore a short, flowing green dress decorated with leaves. Tonight however, she wore a full-length white ball gown with green vines embroidered into the border of the sleeves and skirt. Her waist long brown curly hair had been straightened and pulled up into a bun and was decorated with flowers. Her skin was pale with a slight green tint, not needing any makeup or jewelry to add to her graceful appearance. Like always, she wasn't wearing any shoes.

The Guardian of Fun remembered when he had first met Rose. It had been four months after they had defeated Pitch. He had been depressed due to the memories his teeth held. While they showed him images of happy times he spent with his sister, they did not tell him what her name was. That was when Tooth brought him to Rose's garden. There he learned that the nature spirit's center was Family and considered herself a Guardian even though she hadn't been officially chosen by Manny. He also learned that she was Bunnymund's ex-girlfriend and that the blizzard he had caused in '68 is what caused them to break up.

Using her connection with the Earth, Rose had led him to where his sister was buried. He had finally learned his sister's name. It was an extremely emotional moment for him. Of course, that was exactly when Pitch decided to resurface. He attacked them with a frightening new power. He was able to control the fear inside of Rose like a puppet master would control a marionette, forcing her to attack them. They had been able to pull through the battle remotely unscathed, but it put them all onto high alert.

A few days later, the Boogeyman struck again. There had been a close call with Rose nearly losing her life. She was saved however with a magic rose she had given Jamie earlier that evening. She had then dealt with Pitch herself, uprooting his entire palace and beating him to a pulp, forcing him to retreat back into the shadows.

Throughout this adventure, Rose and Bunny had made peace with one another and became close friends once more. In fact, Jack and Tooth had become closer during these events as well. They had played around with the idea of going out, but eventually they all decided that it was best if they stayed friends and left it at that. This all had been about four months ago.

"Tooth!" Rose had called out when she noticed the pair, pulling Jack out of reminiscing. They made their way over to the bench they were sitting at.

"Hey there Frostbite." Bunny said to the young Guardian.

"Hey there Kangaroo." Jack responded with a grin. Bunny rolled his eyes but smirked anyways. They had long since gotten over their bitterness towards one another and always greeted each other in such a manner. Sure, the Guardian of Hope still got angry at the pranks Jack pulled on him and always retaliated by tackling him to the ground, but it was more like a sibling rivalry than anything else.

"How's the party?" Jack asked.

"It's kind of boring to be honest." Rose said with a sigh. "No offense to you Bunny, but just sitting here talking about the differences between our plant magic gets kind of dull after an hour."

"A boring party? We can't have that." Jack said with a mischievous grin. "As the Guardian of Fun I must fix this."

"And how do you plan on doing that?" Bunny inquired with a suspicious glance at the spirit.

"Hmm… Well, I could always go get Isaac and-"

"_NO!_" The three other Guardians as well as the majority of the nearby spirits said immediately, cutting him off.

"Do _not_ give the April Fool any excuse to cause havoc Jack." Rose said seriously. "He'll just destroy the party, and probably half of the workshop as well."

"Ok! Ok! I get it!" Jack thought for a moment before snapping his fingers. "I've got it!" He whispered something into a nearby yeti's ear. It nodded and walked off. "Follow me." The winter spirit said. He led Tooth, Bunny, Rose, and the other spirits who had overheard the entire conversation to a side room within the workshop that had a large round table. As they all began to sit around it, the yeti Jack had spoken to returned with an empty cider bottle. The winter spirit accepted it with a thanks and placed it sideways in the middle of table. "Anyone heard of Truth or Dare?" He asked with a smirk.

The rules were simple. One would spin the bottle and whoever the spout pointed at when it stopped would be given the choices truth or dare. Once they answered the question or completed the dare, it would be their turn to spin the bottle and the cycle would start over. Hilarity ensued once the game got under way. First it was revealed that April Showers had a crush on Jack 'O Lantern. Then Eros had to shoot Father Time with one of his love arrows. Luckily, Sandy was able to prevent it from hitting its mark. This caused the majority of the guests to come and investigate and soon the entire party centered on the round table with spirits jumping in and out of the game at their own leisure.

It was great fun to all as they watched secrets getting spilled and embarrassing tasks being performed. The game eventually winded down as they all made their way to the main hall. There, Father Time would be giving his annual speech on the important events of the past year as well as hints and warnings of the year to come. The Legends all quieted down as the time keeping spirit stepped up to a small podium that had been set up for him.

"Before I get started, I would like to thank North for hosting this year's get-together." There was hearty applause as the jolly Russian nodded his head in acknowledgement. "Now, many things happened this past year, many great and world-changing things. The first event this year came about around Easter. Pitch Black, the Boogeyman, had attempted to destroy the children's belief in the Guardians and bring about a second Dark Ages. He had nearly succeeded too if it wasn't for MiM's newest hero. Yes, it was all thanks to the newest Guardian, Jack Frost!" There was thunderous applause as Jack rubbed the back of his head sheepishly.

"Then, almost exactly four months later," Father Time continued when the noise had died down. "Pitch had reappeared and attacked the Guardians directly. He was defeated once again, but this time with the help of Mother Nature, or as we know her, Rose!" Once again, the room erupted into cheering as Rose curtsied.

"Now, before I tell of what I've seen of the future, I believe MiM had something he wanted to announce." At his words, the room fell silent as moonlight filled the air. It focused on the Guardians' mural, causing it to open up. A glowing blue crystal rose from the ground, causing the majority of those gathered to gasp. The light seeped into the prism, causing an image to appear above it. There was silence for a few moments before North's hearty laugh rang through the air.

"Well it seems Manny is ready to make it official!" He boomed. A yeti handed him a large tome that he opened as one of the spirits from the crowd approached him. "Now," he began as she stood before him. "Will you, Rose, vow to watch over the children of the world? To guard them with your life, their hopes, their wishes, and their dreams. For they are all that we have, all that we are, and all that we will ever be."

"I will." Rose vowed, as tears of joy filled her eyes.

"Then, congratulations, Rose. For you are now, and forever more, a Guardian." The room exploded once more into applause as the nature spirit let the liquid happiness flow down her cheeks. Bunny and Sandy lifted their glasses of eggnog towards their newest member in acknowledgement while Tooth and Jack fly-tackled her into a hug.

"Congratulations Rose," Father Time said as everything settled. "You have truly earned this honor more than anyone else." The old man's face suddenly became stony. "Now I will now tell you what I have glimpsed of things yet to come." The seriousness of his tone caused them all to pay even closer attention to him. "As you all know, the future is never set in stone and has many paths that it can take. However, in the year to come, many of those paths become enshrouded with veils of darkness that are more sinister than anything Pitch Black could ever come up with." The spirits were all quiet as they let that foreboding thought sink in. "I advise you all to be cautious and be wary of anything you find suspicious."

"Now, usually, MiM would not permit me to tell you this, but with the coming dangers, he has allowed me to share it with you." He took a deep breath. "I do not know if this and the darkness are connected, but MiM will be choosing a new Legend very soon." There was loud muttering at this. "All I know is that MiM has tasked the Guardians as well as any other spirit them deem necessary to help them adapt to their new life."

"That is all I have to tell you. Please enjoy the rest of the evening and please, be careful in the future."

With a spattering of respectful applause, the guests returned to the party, waiting for midnight. With such a somber thought left in their minds, they all wondered what the New Year would hold. The Guardians were especially thoughtful, each wondering what this new spirit they were tasked with protecting would be like.

Jack sighed as he gazed at the other guests. The fun and happy atmosphere he had brought was gone. He debated whether he should try livening things up again, but decided it might be considered disrespectful. So instead he made small talk with the others in an attempt to ease his mind as they waited for the New Year.

* * *

In a cave hidden deep in the earth, the Man in the Moon was speaking with an old and powerful spirit.

"It does not matter." The spirit rumbled. "They _must_ go through the trial."

The light from the moon flashed in erratic patterns in response.

"I don't care that that they will serve you instead of me." The spirit growled "They will go through the trial and my judgment is _final_."

The flashing was more placating this time.

"Very well. I shall wait for one month before I summon them. Can you not tell me who you have chosen?"

The light flashed in amusement before fading, causing the spirit to sigh.

"Old windbag. I don't see why he finds amusement in our dealings." With that, the spirit went back to its duties.

* * *

**Well, what did you think? A lot better now, isn't it?**

**Now, I have the first three chapters completed, but I'll be posting only the first one tomorrow. I want to have at least two chapters kept in reserve to help inspire me to write. So, when I finish writing chapter four, I'll post chapter two. When I finish chapter five, I'll post chapter three. And so on and so forth until I finish the story. Maybe it'll inspire you guys to keep pestering me to write. ; D**

**Also I would like to announce that my irl sister, maplewind, has decided to be my beta for this story. I apologize to anyone who I promised they could be my beta, but it's easier as we live in the same house so she can read the chapter as soon as I finish it. Also, she submitted some OC's for this fic that you'll see next chapter. She even wants to write a side fic to this fic centering on those characters! Be sure to send her tons of PM's to remind her about it. ; D **

**I do believe that's it for now. Whether you're a new reader or have been following this for a while now, don't forget to leave a review telling me what you think or if you have a question! **

**TTFN! **

**-Ink**


	2. Chp1: A Day in the Life

**Welcome back! Did you enjoy the prologue? I'm only asking because no one has reviewed yet... Oh well! **

**So here's a treat to all you old readers: a completely brand new chapter! That's right! This wasn't in my original version of the story! It also introduces some new characters created by my awesome sister and beta maplewind! So sit back and enjoy! Cue the disclaimer!**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Rise of the Guardians or the books they're based off, even though I really wish I did. I DO own The Wu's however.**

* * *

**Chapter 1: A Day in the Life**

* * *

It was the final period of the day at Galion High, and the students were finishing the last of their day's work in relative quiet and contentment.

"Argh! Why must math exist! It's like it made just to torture us!"

Well, all of the students minus one flustered girl in Algebra 2.

Quinn looked up from his own work with slight amusement at his friend's frustration.

"What's wrong now Kay?"

"Everything!" Kaitlyn McPheen groused as she ran a hand through her long, light brown hair which was currently dyed with blue highlights. She began rubbing the scar her cat gave her on the back of her right hand, a sure sign she was upset. "It just doesn't make any sense!"

"Bring it over and let's take a look at it." Quinn offered. She quickly moved beside him and allowed him to walk her through the formula step by step. The familiar scene reminded them both of the first time they met actually.

It was the beginning of the same year in the same class that found the hazel-eyed girl stewing over a different but equally difficult problem. Quinn had noticed and offered his help. He then proceeded to help her understand the work and even gave her some studying techniques that she found surprisingly helpful. When she grudgingly asked what he had wanted in return, Kaitlyn was astonished to find that he had no alternative motive other wanting to help. Intrigued by his sincere behavior, she had followed him around and they soon became close friends.

Kaitlyn herself was a year older than Quinn, having been held back a grade due to her low academic skills. It wasn't that she unintelligent, it was just that she liked to hang out and have fun more than studying. Quinn wasn't judgmental about it, which she was grateful for.

"I think I understand." She said once he had finished his walkthrough. "Will you check it when I'm done?"

"Don't I always?" He responded with a smile.

Kaitlyn began to work on her paper with renewed vigor. Quinn had been a godsend to her. If it wasn't for his optimistic attitude, encouraging words, and how he made the foreign symbols on her paper make sense, she didn't think she would have the patients to actually pass the class. And she desperately needed to pass if she didn't want to be held back again. She couldn't let down her parents, or Quinn, like that.

The rest of the period passed quickly, and soon the final bell rang, signifying the end of the day's torture, er, learning.

"I'll see you out front." Kaitlyn said as she headed to her locker.

"K.K." Quinn replied as he headed towards his own locker. He pushed through the throngs of students and reached his destination.

"'Sup locker buddy?" A voice said as he was going through his school stuff to see what he had to bring home and what he could leave behind. He looked up to see a teen his age with short, spikey, dark brown hair. He was taller than Quinn, around 5'10'', and was lean and muscular. He had light colored skin with a spattering of freckles across his nose. He wore an orange rubber bracelet on his left wrist and a silver chained necklace which currently had an orange flame-shaped ornament on it.

"A lot of things Mark." Quinn greeted with a shrug. "The sky. The national debt. Hopefully Kay's grade after the next test."

Mark McPheen snorted in amusement as he opened his own locker and began shifting through his supplies.

"You and I both know that's not happening."

"Give your cousin some credit." Quinn scolded. "She's been working really hard to pass this year."

"Only because she knows you'll come down on her if she doesn't. When are you going to ask her out? You're obviously interested if you're spending so much time helping her." Mark said in a mock accusing tone.

"You know it's not like that. She's so much like my sister that it'd just be awkward. Besides, I don't see you with a girlfriend."

"Oh please. I could charm any girl I wanted. They happen to find me irresistible." He said suavely.

"Hey Mark~!" Called Cindy Bake from her usual gaggle of girlfriends as they passed.

"C-Cindy!" Mark stammered in a higher voice than normal. He dropped one of his larger text books onto his foot. In his haste and haze of pain, he slammed his locker door. Which his hand was still inside. The following stream of curses caused Cindy and her group to giggle mysteriously like all girls tended to do before they moved on.

"You mean like that?" Quinn asked sarcastically, not bothering to hide his amused smirk.

"S-shut up!" Mark snapped as a faint blush tinted his cheeks. He picked up his dropped book and shoved into his backpack. "Well are we going to go meet the others or what?" He asked as he briskly walked away, Quinn quickly following.

Mark grumbled under his breath as they moved along with the crowd. He had just made himself look like an idiot, in front of his crush no less. Sure, he always said he could sweep any girl off her feet, but saying and doing were two separate things. Whenever a girl did talk to him, especially Cindy Bake, he would "become a clumsy and awkward duckling" as his cousin affectionately put it. It frustrated him to no end. How was he supposed to impress Cindy when he became a shy turtle whenever she approached? At least Quinn was supportive to his problem, despite the occasional teasing.

The two exited the school and shivered slightly as the brisk, snow-filled January air swept against them. They looked around and spotted Kaitlyn talking to a boy their age. He was the same height as Mark, and had shaggy, dark red hair. He had an average build and the same colored eyes as Kaitlyn. Despite his obvious Irish heritage, not a single freckle marked his skin. Instead, he had a small scar below the right side of his lip which matched the scars on his hands.

"Hey guys." Derek Ryder called out as he noticed the two approaching. They called out their own greetings and soon the group of four were making their way down the sidewalk. "So what's up?"

"Mark crashed and burned in front of Cindy again." Quinn said, earning a glare from Mark.

"That's enough out of you shorty." He retorted. Quinn was indeed the shortest out of the group at 5'5". Even Kaitlyn was taller at 5'8".

"Now, now children. It's not nice to tease each other." Derek said calmly as he reached into his backpack. "If you don't apologize you won't get any of my cookies." Quinn and Mark immediately grabbed each other in a hug.

"I'm so sorry!" They both exclaimed as they fake cried. Kaitlyn burst out laughing while Derek shook his head with an amused smile.

Derek was a master baker, and his cookies were something no one would want to miss out on. The scars he had were a result from several of his mishaps while working in the kitchen. Paradoxically, however, he couldn't cook to save his life.

"We can has cookies now?" Quinn said hopefully once their display was finished. The baker simply chuckled and handed each of them one of his famous Death by Mint-Chocolate Cookies.

"How did you get so good at baking?" Mark asked rhetorically as he enjoyed the confection.

"Just comes naturally to me. Unlike you and girls." Derek answered with a smirk.

"You're lucky your cookies taste so good. Otherwise you'd have mysteriously disappeared a long time ago."

"You just need to be yourself MnM." Kaitlyn told her cousin. "Just relax and drop your ladies' man act and you'll be fine."

"Easy for you to say." Mark mumbled around his cookie. "You don't turn into a klutz when you're talking to the opposite gender."

Quinn smiled as he watched his friends bicker between themselves. Out of the three, he had known Derek longest, having met him in 6th grade and being best friends ever since. He didn't meet Mark until last year and Kaitlyn just this year, but the four were already closer than most siblings. It helped that their personalities meshed so well.

Kaitlyn was sensible, if a bit strong headed. She wore her heart on her sleeve and wasn't afraid tell you exactly how she felt. She strongly disliked those who put up fronts and wants everyone to just be themselves. She wasn't very interested in reading or winter either. Her hobbies included running, dying her hair, and making candles.

Mark liked to think that he's a ladies man, but was obviously not. He enjoyed pulling harmless pranks and his cool, charming personality made it hard for others to stay mad at him for long periods of time. Of course, he would always be willing to take any form of punishment he deserved if he ever crossed the line. What he despised above all else was when someone was punished for no reason or for something they didn't do. Bullies and pointless fighting both came in a close second. He had been taking martial arts classes since he was a kid, so he knew how to fight if he ever needed to. He also enjoyed mythology, video games, and had a surprisingly good singing voice.

Derek was a calm and patient person that was very slow to anger. In fact, the only time he will lose his temper is if you would mess with him while he was baking. He loved to learn and would always spout the most random facts at any time. He found it easy to talk to girls, much to Mark's envy, but always seemed oblivious to their not-so-subtle flirting. Some of the few things he disliked were bugs and when people would say that baking and cooking were the same thing.

Quinn was laid back and liked to just go with the flow. That didn't mean he wasn't hard working or didn't like to have fun. He always did his best at school and put one hundred percent of his effort into any project he came up with. Of course, this was mainly so he would have more free time to hang out with his friends or be on the computer. Quinn was an avid internet junky. He lurked on Facebook, deviantART, , and YouTube with an almost religious dedication. Thanks to his consent web surfing, he would often use popular memes whenever they were relevant in a conversation and knew everything when it came to the latest pop-culture news. Despite his eccentric tendencies, the teen refused to let anyone give up on anything. Whether it be one of his favorite fan fiction authors that was thinking of discontinuing a story or his friends and their own pursuits, he would not allow them to abandon their goals.

Said teen was aroused from his character analysis when a snowball collided with the side of his face. Blinking in confusion he looked around to find a group of children having a snowball fight in an open field.

"Hey!" One of them called when they noticed the teens. "Come play with us!"

"What do you say guys?" Mark said with a growing smirk. "Should we show these kiddies not to mess with us?"

"But it's cold!" Kaitlyn complained. Before Mark could reply, another snowball hit her square in the face. She blinked a few times before a goofy grin spread across her face. "Revenge!" She shouted as she dropped her backpack and charged at the kids who squealed in delight and scattered. Her three friends joined her and there was soon a huge battle being waged. Even with the teens not giving their all, they were pushing the kids back.

"How about we even the playing field a bit?" A voice that only the children and Quinn seemed to hear.

"We're doomed." Quinn groaned.

"What are you talking about?" Mark said. "We're win-" He was pelted by a barrage of snowballs before he could finish his statement. The same was happening to the other teens as they were herded into a circle.

"Alright! We surrender!" Derek shouted. The storm of snowballs stopped as the children sent up a cry of victory.

"Ugh. Why did I do that?" Kaitlyn said as they retreated to their backpacks.

"Because it was fun?" Quinn supplied.

"Yeah, but now I'm cold _and_ wet."

"Stop being such a wuss."

"What was that?!" Kaitlyn rounded on her cousin with fire in her eyes.

"Er… Nothing!" Mark hastily backtracked.

"That's what I thought." The older girl said with a satisfied smirk. Quinn laughed at the interaction before checking his watch.

"Well, I guess it's about time I start heading home. Don't forget to do your homework Kay. I'll check it tomorrow morning. Mark, stop bugging your cousin. Let me know how that new recipe turns out Derek." The others said their own parting words and Quinn made his way to his family's house. As he approached the drive way, he noticed his older brother taking out his lighter and a cigarette. Quinn quickly scooped up some snow and molded it into a sphere before throwing it. It hit his brother's face, causing him to drop the cancer stick, ruining it.

"What was that for?!" Zane exclaimed, glaring at his younger brother.

"Just helping you with your resolution." Quinn replied while pulling out a pack of gum. "Now, chew." He tossed a stick to Zane who grumbled a bit but popped it into his mouth anyways. "Good boy."

"Yeah whatever." Zane said as he made his way over to his car. "I'm going to go pick up Lori from school. See you at dinner."

"See ya." Quinn made his way inside, taking off his shoes in the entryway and then heading into the kitchen where Jane was washing some dishes. "Hey mom."

"Hello honey. How was school?"

"Same old, same old."

"Did you want a snack? I think there's still some left over lasagna in the fridge."

"Nah, I'm good. Derek gave us some cookies after school. I'm going to go do my homework and stuff."

"I'll call you for dinner." Jane said as Quinn made his way up the stairs.

The teen entered his room and sat down at his desk. He quickly completed his school work before booting up his computer and surfing the web. He was unable to get very far in his browsing, however, as the fire alarm went off.

Quinn groaned as he got up and headed to the hall closet to grab the broom. Their house, when it was being built, had been improperly wired, causing the alarm to go off at random intervals. They had become used to the annoyance, and kept putting off getting it fixed. The seventeen year old, using the broom's long handle, was able to press the reset button on the smoke detector in the hall, causing the alarm to stop.

"Thanks honey!" Jane called up the stairs.

"No problem!" He called back before heading back to his room. He was about to get back onto the internet when there was a tapping at his window. Quinn glanced up to see a teen with white hair and wearing a blue hoodie peering in at him. With a grin, he quickly got up and opened the window.

"Took you long enough." Jack Frost said as he flew into the room and settled on the bed.

"Sorry. I had to turn off the fire alarm."

"Again? That's, what, the third time this week?"

"Fourth." Quinn corrected as he put on his headset that he used when playing with his internet friends. He had come up with this ploy not long after Jack had started visiting so if anyone walked in, they would think he would be talking to someone online.

"Geez. You really need to get that checked. Anyways, did you enjoy getting beat by a bunch of little kids?" The winter spirit asked with a smirk.

"They only won because you interfered and we both know it." Quinn said. "So how's Jamie?"

Jack had told the teen the entire story about how he had joined the Guardians of Childhood, who were like the Avengers but made up of fairy tale heroes like Santa and the Easter Bunny. They were also, in Quinn's esteemed opinion, much more awesome.

"He's fine." Jack said with a fond smile. "He and his friends are doing their best to get the other kids their age to believe in the Guardians."

"You'll have to introduce us the next time I'm in Burgess."

"Sure thing. And then we'll have the mother of all snowball fights!" Jack exclaimed as he pumped his arm in the air. Quinn chuckled and shook his head the spirit's antics.

"So I saw your brother at the elementary school. He was going to light a cigarette but I had Wind keep putting out his lighter before he could."

"Nice!" The seventeen year old said and offering the spirit a victory fist bump.

The two talked about anything and everything for a couple hours until Jane called Quinn down for dinner.

"See you tomorrow?" Jack asked as he headed to the window.

"You know it." Quinn held out his hand and he and Jack completed their own secret handshake that the winter spirit insisted they have before he flew off. The teen closed his window and headed downstairs with a smile.

Life was good.

* * *

**Ugh… I'm sorry that this is actually a bit shorter than the prologue. It just did not want to be written! And that ending! Oi vey…**

**Anyways, what do you think of Quinn's friends? Like I said up above, my sister created them. She even plans on writing a side fic to this story using them, so make sure to bug her about it! ; D**

**I forgot to mention this in the last chapter, but I'm still accepting OC's! Make sure you send them to me in a PM or else I won't take them! Also, they **_**must**_** be older than Jack, no exceptions. Other than that, please don't make them Mary Sue's/Gary Stu's. Also, I hate that I have to point this out, but there will be NO PAIRINGS in this story! So please don't ask for JackXQuinn MPreg with your OC being the child! (Yes, this was actually requested once back with the original story. You know who you are!)**

**Hmmm… I feel like I'm forgetting something… Oh yeah! Remember, I won't be posting chapter 2, even though its finished, until I finish chapter 4, so please be patient!**

**Thanks for reading! And please, please, please, **_**please, please, PLEASE! LEAVE A REVIEW!**_** I would be eternally grateful if you did! I'll even accept flames at this point! That doesn't sound **_**too**_** desperate, right?**

**Until next time!**

**-Ink**


	3. Chp 2: Up in Flames

**Hey everyone! Happy New Year!**

**So remember when I said I wouldn't post this until I finished chapter 4? Well, I lied! Yay! As it's a holiday, I figured I would post this as a treat! So enjoy!**

**Disclaimer: I don't own RotG, it's characters, or Rose!**

* * *

**Chapter 2: Up in Flames**

* * *

"Are you prepared for the German test tomorrow?" Derek asked as he and his best friend walked home. They lived one street apart so they were able to stick together longer than the others.

"German test?" Quinn had a thoughtful look before going pale. "Oh crap! I completely forgot!"

"You… forgot?" Derek stared at his friend as if he had grown a second head. Quinn _never_ forgot about any assignment, let alone when he had a test. Especially if said test was in his worst subject.

"I've been a bit distracted lately." The teen groaned. "I'm totally going to bomb!"

"Chillax. I can come over and help you study." The baker took out his phone and began to type a message to his mom.

"Thanks man."

They made it to the Wu household just in time to prevent Zane from starting up another cigarette before quickly heading up to Quinn's room.

"I'm so screwed." Quinn said after they began to pour over the material. "I need at least another day to study if I want to get a B."

"Well, unless we get a snow day or something, that's not going to happen." Derek responded. Quinn paused, a smile creeping across his face.

"Who knows? We may just get that snow day." He said cryptically before turning back to the textbook a lot calmer than before, causing Derek to stare at him. The red head shook his head after a minute and left it at that, just chalking it up as one of Quinn's strange quirks.

"Right. Now, repeat this phrase in German. What do you do in your spare time?"

"Was machst du in deiner Freizeit?" Quinn said carefully.

"Good. Now give me a response to that question."

* * *

Later that night, the Wu family were slumbering soundly.

_**BEEP! BEEP! BEEP! BEEP!**_

Quinn was yanked from his peaceful dreams by the harsh blaring of the fire alarm. Groaning, the teen covered his head with his pillow, trying to block out the offending noise. Footsteps could be heard in the hall; most likely his father or brother going to turn off the alarm. He readjusted himself into a more comfortable position and waited for obnoxious beeping to go away.

Quinn frowned and sat up. It had been several minutes since the alarm had started up, and still it continued to sound off. He took a deep breath and gagged at the acrid smell of smoke. His pulse began to quicken, hoping that this wasn't happening.

"_**FIRE!**_"

His heart plummeted when he heard his father's frantic shout. Quinn sat there, uncertain of what to do. The sound of more footsteps and panicked shouts brought him out of his stupor. He jumped out of bed and slipped on his shoes as quickly as possible. Grabbing his coat, he dashed out of his room. His family were rushing to the stairs, most still in their pajamas.

"What's happening Quinn?" His younger sister asked, completely frightened. He grabbed her hand and pulled her towards the stairs.

"We need to get out of the house!" Quinn said in panic. The rest of the family had already made it to the first floor as he and his sister started down. They were about half way when Lorelei gasped.

"Keaton!" She let go of Quinn's hand and rushed back upstairs to rescue her favorite stuffed animal. After letting lose one of his grandmother's Chinese swears, the teenager followed her to her room. She clutched the small fox her chest as he scooped her up, heading back into the hall. His heart leapt to his throat when he saw thick plumes of black smoke billowing up the stairwell, the menacing orange flicker not far behind. How had it spread so fast?

Still carrying his sister, Quinn rushed to the room furthest from the stairs; their grandmother's. He closed the door behind them and set Lorelei on the bed. The air was starting to become warm and stale. The teen quickly opened the window, breathing in the crisp January air. He gazed down across the street to find his family and several neighbors gathered around their mailbox. Kai was retraining Jane as she tried to run back into the house to find her two children.

"_Quinn_! _Lorelei_!" She screamed frantically as she fought her husband's firm grasp. The teen cupped his hands to his mouth.

"We're up here!" He shouted, drawing their attention. "There's too much smoke coming up the stairs se we can't get out!"

"Don't worry!" Zane shouted back. "The fire department is on its way! You're going to be fine!" Even when he was shouting, Quinn could hear the worry in his brother's voice. He looked around and soon found the reason why.

He had asked Jack to give them enough snow for a snow day, and the winter spirit had delivered. Two and a half feet of snow covered the ground. He realized it would take a while for the fire trucks to drive all the way across town in this; even if the snow plow was driving in front of them. His heart fell as the truth of the situation set in. They weren't going to get there in time.

His mother was sobbing now as she too came to the awful realization. Kai was holding her close, gazing up at his son with concern. Zane was supporting their grandmother, who was also crying, as he stared in the direction of the town, waiting to hear the fire engines' blaring sirens. The teen felt a small hand tug at his pants leg, the small action drawing him away from his place at the window.

"Quinn, what's wrong? Why are you crying?"

Quinn wiped his eyes and found them to be wet. Not wanting to scare the girl, he put on a brave face as he knelt down to be eye-level with her.

"No reason. But don't worry, we'll be fine. The nice firemen are coming to get us, ok?" Lorelei nodded, but she didn't seem convinced.

"Oh what _delicious_ fear." Said a certain spirit of nightmares; unseen and unheard by the two siblings. He walked over to them and chuckled. "Look how adorable they are when terrified." Pitch glanced out the window to the family below. "And look, the fear has spread to the entire family. How wonderful!" The dark spirit chuckled once more as he leaned close to Quinn's face. "Where's your Jack Frost now? Do you still find joy in his snow when it's going to cause you and your sister to die?" The teenager shivered and looked around in confusion. The Boogeyman laughed once more and took his leave. He had a young Guardian to taunt.

The minutes seemed to drag on for hours to Quinn, his fear growing with each second. He held Lorelei close, whispering comforting words to her. She gasped in fright suddenly. He turned and saw with growing dread that smoke was billowing under the door. He could hear the crackling roar of the fire now as it destroyed his home. He was starting to panic. How in the world was the fire spreading so fast?

Lorelei distracted him from his thoughts as she began to cough. Quinn looked around desperately for something to cover their mouths with and filter out the damaging smoke. He eyed the large quilt on their grandmother's bed. He grabbed it and was about to press it to their faces when he stopped suddenly. He had an idea. It was crazy and daring, but it was their last option. He bundled the quilt up as best as he could and threw it out the window.

"Dad! Zane!" He screamed, catching their attention once more. "Grab the quilt! We're going to have to jump!" They understood immediately and, along with several other men from the neighborhood, rushed to pull the quilt tight in a makeshift trampoline. Quinn knelt next to his sister and looked her in the eye. "You're going to jump first."

"No Quinn! I'm scared of heights!" The terrified girl sobbed.

"Hey! Listen to me!" He said sharply, cutting off her cries. "Do you remember your New Year's resolution?" She nodded. "Well, there's no better time than now to work on it. Don't worry. Daddy and Zane and other nice men are down there. They are going to catch you. You're not going to get hurt."

"But, I'm still scared." Lorelei sniffed.

"I know you can do this. Imagine you're flying with Santa on his sleigh or with the Tooth Fairy as she collects the teeth. They're up in high places all the time and they don't get scared. Can you do that?" The little girl's fear slowly melted away as she nodded, determination shining in her eyes.

"We're ready!" Kai called up to his son.

"Alright!" Quinn called back. "You ready?" Lorelei nodded once more. He picked her up and placed her on the window sill. "You have Keaton?" The girl clutched the stuffed fox close as she nodded again. "Ok. Jump on three. One. Two. Three!"

With an extra push from Quinn, Lorelei jumped out from the burning building. Her breath caught in her throat as she saw how high she was. She felt something in her stomach as she fell. She wasn't sure what it was as it wasn't fear, but she liked it. She landed roughly onto the stretched blanket, unharmed and giggling. The men quickly carried her off to her waiting mother, who was sobbing in relief.

Quinn sighed happily. For the first time since this nightmare began, he felt a sliver of hope. He gazed up at the moon. It was three quarters full and glowed brightly, as if congratulating him on a job well done. He closed his eyes and smiled. He was going to be alright.

The house exploded.

* * *

Jack leaned against the tree he was perched in and sighed contentedly. He loved the clear winter nights of Burgess, the stars in the sky twinkling like North's Christmas lights. Sure, he had a room at Santoff Clausen now, but every now and then he enjoyed staying out under the sky.

The wind tugged at him, but he ignored it, enjoying the scenery. It pushed him harder, trying to get his attention. The winter spirit sighed in annoyance.

"What?" He snapped.

"And here I thought I had snuck up on you again." Said a familiar, silky voice. Jack jumped up and turned to face the smirking Nightmare King.

"What do you want Pitch?" Jack snarled, aiming his staff at the dark spirit's chest.

"I'm just here to congratulate you on that wonderful snow storm you made over Galion. From what I heard, you gave them over two feet of snow. Quite an achievement if I do say so myself."

"Well no one was asking you." The Guardian of Fun narrowed his eyes. Pitch was playing with him. They both knew two feet of snow was nothing to the winter spirit, so why had he brought it up? An uneasy feeling began to form in his stomach. "Why are you really here?"

"Aren't I allowed to appreciate the handiwork of my fellow spirits?" Pitch asked with a hurt expression, which soon turned into a smug smile when Jack scowled. "No? Well then, I suppose I'll just take my leave." Before the winter bringer could react, the Boogeyman melted away into the shadows.

Jack floated there for a moment, confused about what had just happened. A terrible suspicion began to grow through him as he thought about Pitch's words.

_Galion… Quinn!_

"Wind! Take me to Galion!" His old friend obliged, whisking him off into the night at a much faster pace than normal. Jack furrowed his brow as he sped along, trying to ignore the building anxiety in his gut and hoping that this was just another of Pitch's tricks.

* * *

Nicholas St. North sat in his study reviewing the Naughty and Nice lists. It was extremely early in the year, but the Guardian of Wonder always liked to have a head start on everything. The lists themselves weren't actually written down, but stored in North's perfect memory. He knew the name of every person in the world by heart. He knew the children especially well, even the newborn infants once they were named.

Of course, this amazing ability had its downside as well. While he knew every human as soon as they were born, it also meant he knew whenever they passed away. North did not get upset whenever someone who had lived a full life died, but children were another story. He always felt himself become a little sad when the name of a child faded from his mind and the normally jolly Russian would pause in whatever he was doing whenever it occasionally happened.

Tonight was no different. North would review the names in his mind, smiling whenever a newborn was given a name he liked, and pausing for several seconds when a child faded away. This lasted for several hours, the large man stopping only for cookie breaks. He was on one of said breaks when it happened.

He had just picked up a large cookie, double chocolate chip, and raised it half way to his open mouth when he froze in shock. A name that had just recently come to his attention had faded from his mind. It was the name of someone who believed in the Guardians; all of them, including Jack. What startled him the most was that it wasn't the name of a child.

Dropping the cookie to the floor, where several elves began to fight over it, North rushed out of his study. He pushed through the yetis in the workshop, ignoring their concern when they saw his troubled expression. He dashed up to the giant globe, searching for a single light in particular. Unfortunately, it was no longer there.

"Poor Jack." He sighed, a deep sadness for the younger Guardian washing over him.

As if by cue, snow began to fall inside the workshop. North did not seem as surprised as the yetis and elves, which all began to run around in a panic. Like his northern lights, each Guardian had a way of calling the others in an emergency. The snow, which would be falling wherever the other Guardians were, was Jack's distress signal.

North held out his hand and let a snowflake land on it. By doing so, he immediately knew where the winter spirit was. The small town of Galion, only a few hours from Burgess.

"Ready the sleigh!" His authoritatively loud voice lacked its normal warmth. As preparations were made, the Guardian sighed heavily. This was going to be a long night.

* * *

North landed the sleigh in a clearing in the woods just outside of town. Leaving Phil to watch it, he made his way through the trees. He wasn't even startled when Bunny popped out of one of his tunnels next to him.

"This had better be bloody important." He muttered, his tone irritated but his expression full of concern.

"It is." North stated simply as he continued walking.

"You know what this is about mate?" The Easter Bunny raised an eyebrow questioningly at the large Russian as he fell into step with him. "Pitch isn't back, is he?"

"No. There is no immediate danger that I'm aware of at the moment." The Pooka sputtered indignantly at this.

"Then why are we even here?!"

"Jack may not be in trouble, but he still needs us right now." North replied cryptically. Choosing not to respond, Bunny continued on in silence.

They soon came to the tree line where Rose, Tooth, and Sandy were already waiting. Beyond them was a small neighborhood. However, on one of the plots of land closest to the Guardians were the smoldering remains of a home. Smoking debris was strewn around the entire area. The neighboring houses were slightly damaged, but nothing too serious. Police and firemen were still at the scene while the occupants of the neighborhood stood about in shock. Jack Frost stood near the edge of the ruined house, his back turned to the other spirits.

Sandy was the first to notice North and Bunny, making a question mark appear above his head as he gestured to the view in front of them.

"Don't ask me." Bunny replied. "North here is the one with all the answers." They turned to the large Guardian expectantly who sighed and shook his head sadly.

"Quinn Wu." The others seemed puzzled at this response.

"Wait." Tooth spoke up. "Isn't that the name of the teenager that believes in Jack?"

"Well, it _was_ his name…" It took several moments before what North said sunk in.

"Crikey." The Aussie whispered as he stared at the smoking home with wide eyes. "What a way to go."

Sandy made several images that looked like two adults and several children followed by a question mark. Rose knelt down and placed her hand onto the ground, her eyes closed in concentration.

"The rest of his family is safe Sandy." The Earth spirit answered his question.

"What about Jack?" Tooth glanced at the young Guardian, her eyes filled with sympathetic tears.

"He knows we are here." North said while folding his arms. The fairy didn't seem to accept his inaction, but remained with the group. She knew as much as they all did that he needed time alone at the moment.

Jack, vaguely aware of the others' presence, gazed at the ruined house. Many emotions swirled inside him like one of his many snowstorms. There was grief, confusion, helplessness, anger, and guilt. Oh yes, there was a lot of guilt. He was directly responsible for the two feet of snow that had prevented the fire engines from reaching the house on time. True, he hadn't caused the supposed gas leak that led to the explosion, nor was he the still unknown cause of the fire itself, but in the state his mind was in, he might as well have been.

He knew these were dangerous and untrue thoughts, but he couldn't help it. He had never lost one of his believers before. Of course, he didn't have any believers until the previous year, but it still hurt worse than the three hundred years of solitude he had been forced to endure. To top it all off, it had been the believer that was closest to him in both attitude and intellect. Quinn had been able to relate to the spirit and talked to him about all the things normal teens talked about. What was even worse was that he had requested the snow special just so he could have an extra day to study.

But now he was gone. The only teenager who believed in Jack Frost and had become one of his best friends was now resting with the Man in the Moon. The winter spirit couldn't help but feel slightly responsible for the tragedy, even though he knew he wasn't.

Sighing heavily, he turned and trudged his way back to the others. The young Guardian's vision became blurry as he stopped a few feet away from his new family. He normally tried to avoid crying in front of them as he saw it as sign of weakness, but he couldn't stop the tears that slowly started down his face.

Tooth rushed to embrace the winter spirit as his resistance crumbled and began to sob earnestly. She stroked Jack's white hair silently as he shook in her arms, tears flowing down her own cheeks as she did. Rose was next to join in, followed by Sandy and Baby Tooth. Bunny clasped the grieving boy's shoulder supportively while North grabbed his free hand, squeezing it slightly. Jack's sobs grew with each of the Guardian's comforting actions, completely overwhelmed with emotion. No one spoke for the ten minutes he cried himself out. They knew their presence was worth more to him than any words.

With several loud sniffles and coughs, Jack pulled himself together. Leaning on his staff, he looked around at the other spirits.

"Thanks." He croaked, his throat raw from crying.

"Anytime mate." Bunny said with a small smile.

"Jack." North addressed, looking the boy in the eye. "You know this is not your fault, yes?" Jack sighed.

"I know. But it sure feels like it."

"There's no way you could've know this would happen." Rose reasoned. "It's not like you caused the fire." Jack simply nodded.

"I suppose now would be a bad time to mention that I saw Pitch?" The others tensed at this.

"What?! Where did you see him?!" Bunny demanded, his boomerangs drawn.

"He visited me at my pond." Jack explained, slight bitterness in his voice. "He wanted to "congratulate" me for the two feet of snow here.

"Bloody ingrate." The Pooka growled. "Don't pay any attention to him. He's just trying to mess with your head." Jack nodded once again.

Sandy made several images of Rose beating up Pitch and then Pitch attacking the guardians, but with an X over it.

"Sandy's right." Tooth translated. "Pitch is probably still too weak from his fight with Rose to try and attack us directly. We shouldn't have to worry about him for now." There were several murmurs of agreement at this before a silence settled over the group.

"Um…" Jack began nervously. "Can we go check on his family?" They all looked to North, whose eyes had softened.

"Of course we can." The big Russian said before turning to Rose with an upturned eyebrow. The Guardian of Family nodded and knelt to the ground, one more placing her palm against the Earth.

"They're at Burgess General Hospital." She announced after several moments of concentration.

"To the sleigh." North said without his normal exuberance. Not even Bunny complained as they trudged through the snow, and soon there was nothing left that marked that the spirits had ever been there.

* * *

The sterile hospital room was filled with a melancholy silence. Kai Wu lay in his bed with several bandages over the minor injuries he had received from the explosion. The rest of the family sat or stood around him, each lost in their misery. Little Lorelei looked around at the sad faces she knew by heart, noticing for the first time that one was missing.

"Mama?" Jane looked down at her youngest child.

"What is it hun?"

"Where's Quinn?" The tension in the room became heavy. They all looked at each other helplessly. How were they to explain to her that her favorite brother wasn't coming back?

"Come here Rosebud." Leann gestured to her granddaughter. When she was in reach, the elderly woman picked her up and set her on her lap. She began to stroke the young one's hair affectionately as she explained. "Quinn…left."

"Where did he go?"

"He…he went to go live with Grandpa." There was a choking sound as Jane tried to stifle the oncoming tears.

"Where does Grandpa live?" Lorelei asked with big eyes. She knew that she had a Grandpa, but she had never met him.

"Well…do you really want to know?" The girl nodded her head enthusiastically. Leann searched desperately for something to tell to her grandchild. A cold breeze wafted through the room, causing all the occupants to shiver. This gave her a sudden inspiration. "He lives at the North Pole with Santa." Lorelei gasped.

"Really?!" Her eyes were wide with wonder.

"Uh-huh. He helps Santa around his workshop. Now that Quinn is living with them, he's helping too."

"Does he get to help the Easter Bunny too? And the Tooth Fairy, and the Sandman, and Jack Frost?"

"You bet he does Rosebud. But he's going to be very busy now, so he won't be able to come home." The girl immediately became sad.

"But…doesn't he love us anymore?" Jane covered her face in her hands, trying to hide her sobs from Lorelei.

"Of course he loves us. He's just going to be too busy to visit." Lorelei's eyes began to water.

"So, we won't ever see him again?"

"I'm afraid not Rosebud." Leann gave a sad smile. The tears building up in the small girls eyes slowly started trickling down her face.

"But he didn't even say goodbye!" she cried out. Looking at the stricken faces around her, she continued rambling on. "His stuff is still at the house! Won't he be cold at the North Pole? Can't he visit when Santa brings the presents or when the Easter Bunny brings his eggs? And…and...He promised to help me not be afraid of heights anymore! He promised to help all of us! Why would he leave when he made a promise? Why would he leave?" She dissolved into uncontrollable sobs, burying her face into Leann's shirt.

Tears flowed openly on the faces of everyone in the room as they listened to Lorelei's heartbroken gasps. Especially on the faces of six, unobserved spirits.

* * *

The week that followed was devoid of any happiness, for the Guardians, the Wu family, and Quinn's friends.

Jack's normally cheerful demeanor had been replaced with stoic silence. No snow fell anywhere in the world, the spirit providing only cold winds and light frost. He didn't even attempt to pull any pranks or tell jokes. His dour mood affected the others as they had become used to his playful antics, casting a gloomy cloud over them all. He assured them that he just needed some time to recover and they respected that, but they couldn't help but miss the fun-loving spirit.

The Wu's fared no better. With their house and all of their possessions gone, they were forced to move in with Mai and David in the house they rented in Burgess. Lorelei, while she had not said anything, began to suspect that Quinn hadn't just left as her Grandmother told her, and became secluded. She ignored everyone and didn't speak, not even to Keaton the fox. Zane began to smoke an entire pack of cigarettes again, trying his best to dull the pain. Mai simply stared off into space for hours at end, thinking of all the fun times she shared with her brother. Even David couldn't pull her from her stupor.

It was worse for Kai and Jane. The pain of losing one of their children was nearly unbearable. Kai tried to go to work and take his mind off of it, but his supervisors wouldn't hear of it, sending him home with plenty of time off. While he wasn't ungrateful, he wished he had some sort of distraction. Jane busied herself with chores, but soon ran out of messes to clean. She then settled for taking long naps, usually crying herself to sleep.

Leann tried her best to raise their spirits, but to no avail. Her attempts to start a conversation were all met with silence. She eventually stopped, knowing that they each needed to handle the grief themselves, promising herself that she would be there when they needed a shoulder to cry on.

His friends had been devastated when they had found out, and each of them had gone through their own forms of depression.

And so, the week passed in a dreary slog without a single smile or laugh from sixteen grieving hearts.

* * *

The day of the funeral was a somber affair. They held the memorial service in the morning, inviting all who knew Quinn to come. The building they were in was packed. Jane looked around her in wonder, it seemed like almost everyone from town was there. She had no idea that her son had touched so many lives. People she didn't even know were coming up to her and offering their condolences. Thinking of Quinn's sunny personality and willingness to help anyone brought a smile and tears. Oh how she missed her little boy. Kai held her close as she started quietly sobbing, trying his best to be strong for her. He wouldn't let down his guard until they were alone. Even so, a few tears escaped unnoticed.

For the next two hours, people stood in the front of the room telling stories and memories they had of Quinn. His ashes were in a beautiful urn, surrounded by pictures of him. None of his friends could bring themselves to stand up though. They didn't know what to say. Especially Derek. How could he fit five years of memories into a single story? How could he express the pain he was feeling? Quinn was more than his best friend, he was his brother. He knew he should get up, but he just couldn't. Instead, he sat between Kaitlyn and Mark, staring blankly at the floor, tears flowing freely down his face. Kaitlyn was hugging him and sobbing and Mark was sitting stone faced. The only ones in more pain than them was Quinn's family. They couldn't stop crying long enough to get up, but no one blamed them. After the services, just his family and friends went to the gravesite. It was at Leann's request. She felt they all needed to say a more personal goodbye to Quinn. Only then would they start the long road of healing.

The caravan pulled up to the cemetery and everyone slowly got out of their cars. As they made their way to the gravesite, Zane looked at the bleak and dreary sky, finding it fitting somehow. Nothing should look pretty or happy on a day like this. He shouldn't have to be saying goodbye to his little brother. None of them should be going through this. They made it to the gravesite and Zane stared at the headstone. Since they cremated Quinn, there wasn't anything to actually bury, but they still felt a need to give him a resting spot. Someplace they could visit and talk to Quinn. But it felt like a punch in the gut to Zane. A headstone made it official. He couldn't pretend it was all a bad dream anymore. Couldn't wish away the fact that this was it. Quinn was gone. And he was never going to see his little brother again. He was pulled out of his thoughts when his grandma placed her hand on his shoulder.

"It's time." She whispered. Walking around to everyone, she said the same thing and stood by the headstone. Holding the urn close to her, she looked at each of them with tears in her eyes.

"I know this is hard for all of us. It will take time for the pain of this week to dull. It will never go away, but we need not let it dictate the rest of our lives. We need to live, to honor Quinn's memory. It's what he would've wanted. He never let us give up, and it would be a dishonor to him to do so now." Taking a handful of ash in her hands, she turned to the headstone and sprinkled them on it.

"Goodbye Quinn. May you always watch over us and keep us going." Turning to Jane and Kai, she held out the urn and they each took a handful. Kai looked so lost as he sprinkled his handful on the headstone.

"Goodbye son. We'll always love you." Jane echoed his words as she let her handful go. Mai and David were next. Mai was crying so hard she couldn't find the words to say. David just held his fiancé and murmured a quiet goodbye. Zane grabbed some ash and stood over the headstone. The words he wanted to say were caught in his throat. He couldn't do this. Letting this ash go was letting Quinn go, and he wasn't ready for that. His vision got blurry and with a strangled sob, he threw the ashes at the cold hard stone. Stepping away he grabbed his mom and clung desperately to her. Leann watched him sob, and with a heavy heart turned to Lorelei. The little girl was staring at her with wide eyes, the pain on her face heartbreaking.

"Rosebud, sweetie. It's your-"  
"NO!" with a shout, Lorelei cut her grandma off. She knew it was bad to do that, but she didn't want to hear what was coming next. She was scared. Zane was crying, and Zane never cried. She looked at her family and wished for the millionth time that Quinn was there. He'd help her not be so afraid or sad. Where was he? Why was everyone saying good bye? Quinn had to come back.

"I want Quinn!" her shout made everyone stare at her and her mom to start crying again.

"Why is everyone crying and saying goodbye? He's not gone! He has to come back! We need to find where he went and make him come back!" She looked around at everyone, tears starting to flow.

"I'm not gonna tell him goodbye when he's not even here! He has to tell us goodbye to, doesn't he? Where is he? I want Quinn!" She shrieked the last part and broke down crying, shouting for her brother that was never coming back. She hoped if she shouted loud enough, he'd come and ask her what was wrong. He always did. But instead of Quinn coming to comfort her, her parents hugged her tightly and cried with her. They didn't even tell her it was going to be ok like they always did. Because they knew it wouldn't be. Nothing would be ok for a long while.

* * *

The full moon shone down on Galion that night, washing everything with its silvery light. Silence hung in the air, every living creature in the small town fast asleep. The moon slowly brightened and seemed to grow in size. A breeze blew through the cemetery, picking up some of the ashes scattered on a new headstone. The wind made its way across town with its cargo, soon coming upon the remains of the Wu household. It had already been searched by the family for anything that could be salvaged; only lose boards and ashes remaining.

The wind picked up these ashes, mixing it with the ones it obtained from the cemetery. They swirled together in a small vortex, which began to spin faster and faster until creating a mini tornado of ash. The ash began to rearrange itself, forming a figure in the center of the swirling wind. A body was formed, followed by four limbs and a head. The sooty black and grey was replaced by other colors as the figure began to breathe deeply, as if asleep. The wind stopped as the figure was completely formed.

_Awake. _The voice was gentle, yet filled with power and wisdom. The figure felt compelled to obey immediately.

Slowly, Quinn opened his eyes.

* * *

**Boom. That happened. I'm sure you older readers will notice several differences to this. And yes, that is grammatically correct German in the opening scene.**

**Also, I would like to thank my awesome sister/beta maplewind for writing the emotional funeral scene! And if you think I kinda brushed off his friends after spending a whole chapter introducing them, don't worry! She plans on writing a companion fic for this focusing on them! So go bug her about it!**

**OC submissions are still open! Send me a PM if you want them in!**

**And don't forget to leave a review and tell me what you think!**

**-Ink**


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